Official MLBlog of the Kansas City Royals front office.

Results tagged ‘ Eric Hosmer ’

Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., and ESPN2 announced tonight that three Kansas City Royals ¬– left fielder Alex Gordon, first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez – have won American League Rawlings Gold Glove Awards for the second-straight season. The three Rawlings Gold Glove winners are tied for the most in team history after all three players were honored with the awards in 2013. The Royals’ three Rawlings Gold Glove winners were tied for the Major League lead with the Baltimore Orioles’ three selections.

The awards were voted on by American League managers and coaches and honor the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American and National Leagues. Shortstop Alcides Escobar was also named a finalist for the award.

Gordon picked up his fourth-straight Rawlings Gold Glove Award, which is the longest active streak in the American League and second-longest in the Majors behind St. Louis’ Yadier Molina, who earned his seventh-straight award tonight. He is the second Royals player to win a Gold Glove in four consecutive years, joining Frank White, who won six-straight (1977-82) and eight overall. Gordon tied for 11th in the American League with eight outfield assists this season, while his 62 assists since the start of 2011 are the most in the Major Leagues in that span. He led all A.L. outfielders in games (156) and innings (1372.2) for the second-straight year and finished sixth in putouts (341) and committed just two errors in 351 chances for a .994 fielding percentage. Gordon, a former third baseman, earned his first career Rawlings Gold Glove in 2011, his first full season in the outfield.
Hosmer earned his second-straight Rawlings Gold Glove and the first American League first sacker to win in back-to-back years since Mark Teixeira did it with the Yankees in 2009-10. He is the only Royals first baseman to be honored with a Gold Glove. The 25-year-old missed a month of the season with a broken hand, but still played the second-most games at first base (130) in the American League and also finished second in total chances (1141), putouts (1043), assists (88) and fourth in zone rating (.854).

Perez also earned back-to-back Rawlings Gold Glove honors, becoming the fourth-straight American League catcher to win the award in at least two consecutive years, joining Ivan Rodriguez (2006-07), Joe Mauer (2008-10) and Matt Wieters (2011-12). He and Bob Boone (1989) are the only Royals catchers to win the award. Salvy set a club record, playing 146 games behind the plate during the regular season, while his 161 games including the postseason were the most ever by a Major League catcher. He led the American League in catcher pickoffs (four) with his 13 career picks tied for fourth among active MLB backstops. An All-Star for the second-straight year, Perez also ranked second in the A.L. in putouts (1037), third in assists (72) and fifth in runners caught stealing (23) this season.

While first baseman Eric Hosmer is currently in a 7-for-48 (.156) slump over his last 11 games, Royals first baseman his struggles do not have his manager overly concerned.

“[Adam] Wainwright has two out pitches and he does a phenomenal job against lefties,” said Yost. “He’s just tough. It’s just one of those things where it’s timing a little bit, but when [Hosmer] gets it going, he’s got the capability to carry an offense.”

Yost doesn’t see much difference between the Hosmer of the past couple of weeks and the Hosmer of 2013.

“When he was at his hottest last year, it wasn’t much different than his swing right now,” he said.

Yordano Ventura will make his first start for Kansas City since departing with an elbow injury in the third inning of his last appearance vs. Houston on May 26. Yost said that his expectations for Ventura are unchanged.

“I expect him to go out and give his best effort,” said Yost. “To go out and do what he does.”

Ventura recorded the best April by a Royals rookie pitcher, however, he has not won since April 25 and has given up at least three earned runs in four of his last five starts.

Most of the talk pregame with manager Ned Yost was about Salvador Perez, who fouled a ball of his left leg in the seventh inning during last night’s game. Perez was replaced by Brett Hayes following the inning and Perez will not start tonight, though Yost indicated Perez would be available to pinch hit. Yost also said he planned on giving Perez a day off Sunday and when Salvador arrived at the ballpark the swelling was greater than anticipated so Hayes will get the start behind the plate, catching left-hander Danny Duffy who makes his first start of the season after Bruce Chen was placed on the disabled list Friday.

While Perez is not in the starting lineup he will be participating in a pregame ceremony to honor the Royals 2013 Rawlings Gold Glove recipients. He will be joined by first baseman Eric Hosmer and left fielder Alex Gordon. The first 10,000 fans will receive a Rawlings Gold Glove t-shirt, courtesy of Papa John’s.

Eric Hosmer’s 2013 season started slowly. He did not panic, knowing that he could turn it around by continuing to grind away. Hosmer did just that, leading the Majors in hits from May 19 on. He finished the season with a .302 average, his first Rawlings Gold Glove and his first Les Milgram Royals Player of the Year award.

An early hand injury slowed Hosmer, though he fought through it with help from the Royals training staff. Hosmer’s resurgence also coincided with the additions of George Brett and Pedro Grifol to the coaching staff. Hosmer cited Brett’s presence and mentality, which rubbed off on the team. He also mentioned learning the importance of a daily routine from Brett and Grifol. He is excited to work with Grifol again next season, saying that KC’s hitting coach shares great insight about opposing pitchers while helping the Royals build on their strengths.

Hosmer mentioned the strong work ethic of the Royals, which starts with Alex Gordon leading by example. Eric is currently working out three times a week to stay in shape. He will ramp up his offseason routine soon. Eric’s brother Mike worked with him on drills last offseason, which he believes was a big factor in his 2013 success.

The Royals announced today that first baseman Eric Hosmer has been named the 2013 Les Milgram Royals Player of the Year. The award was voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).
Hosmer, 24, earned his first Les Milgram Player of the Year award after leading the team with a .302 batting average with a career-high 34 doubles, 17 homers and 79 RBI. He paced the American League with 60 multi-hit games, which were tied for the fifth-most in Royals history. Kansas City’s first-round selection in 2008, Hosmer ranked seventh in the league in hits (188), ninth in overall batting average (.302) and sixth in batting average vs. left-handed pitching (.323). On May 18, he was batting .244 with 4 doubles, a homer and 11 RBI, but from May 19 on, he hit .317 with a Major League-leading 156 hits, 30 doubles, 16 homers, 68 RBI and a .484 slugging percentage. He was selected as the Majestic Royals Player of the Month three times (June, July and August) during the season, while he hit over .300 in each of the last four months of the year, including .324 in July and September. Hosmer earned his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2013.
The Royals announced yesterday that closer Greg Holland has been named the 2013 Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year, while starting pitcher James Shields was honored with the Joe Burke Special Achievement Award last week.

Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., and ESPN2 announced tonight that a club record three Kansas City Royals ¬– left fielder Alex Gordon, first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez – have won American League Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. The three Rawlings Gold Glove winners mark the first time since 1989 that Kansas City has had multiple honorees. The Royals’ three Rawlings Gold Glove winners tied Baltimore for the Major League lead.

The awards were voted on by American League managers and coaches and honor the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American and National Leagues. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar were also named finalists for the award.

Gordon became the first Royal to win three-straight Rawlings Gold Glove Awards since second baseman Frank White won six-straight, from 1977-82. Alex joins Amos Otis (1971, 1973-74) as the only Royals outfielders to win three awards. Gordon tied for the Major League lead with 17 outfield assists, after finishing second in 2012 and leading MLB with 20 assists in 2011. His 54 assists since the start of 2011 are the most in the Majors, 16 more than the next-closest active outfielder (Torii Hunter). He led American League left fielders in games (160), innings (1364.1), total chances (341) and putouts (323), while committing just one error for a .997 fielding percentage. Gordon, a former third baseman, earned his first career Rawlings Gold Glove in 2011, his first full season in the outfield.

Hosmer became the first Kansas City first baseman to be honored with a Rawlings Gold Glove, and first Royals infielder to be honored since Mark Grudzielanek (2B) in 2006. A finalist for a Gold Glove in 2012, Hosmer earned the award after leading American League first sackers in games played (158) and assists (122), while finishing second in innings (1372.1), total chances (1,335) and putouts (1,205). His .994 fielding percentage ranked fourth among the league’s first basemen with at least 1,200 chances.

Perez is just the second Royals’ catcher to be honored with a Rawlings Gold Glove Award, joining Bob Boone in 1989. Named an All-Star for the first time in his career, Perez led American League catchers with a Royals’ record 71 assists as well as 23 base runners caught stealing, while his 35.2 caught stealing percentage ranked second among qualifying catchers. Perez also ranked second among A.L. backstops in games (137), innings (1115.1), total chances (1,008), putouts (930). He was also charged with just three passed balls, the fewest among American League catchers with at least 100 games behind the plate.
Gordon, Hosmer and Perez give the Royals 23 Rawlings Gold Gloves honorees in franchise history, while Hosmer and Perez become the 11th and 12th different players honored. Gordon earned the ninth Gold Glove given to a Kansas City outfielder (fifth different outfielder).

For the first time in its 57-year history, Rawlings added a sabermetric component to the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process, as part of its new collaboration with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The SABR Defensive Index comprised of approximately 25 percent of the overall selection total, with the managers and coaches’ vote continuing to carry the majority.

Voting for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™ presented by SABR began at the conclusion of the awards show at www.rawlings.com, allowing the general public to weigh in as to who is “The Finest in the Field®” in both the American League and National League. A combination of the international fan vote and the SABR Defensive Index will determine who takes home the honor of each League’s top defensive player. The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners will be unveiled during the 2013 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Ceremony presented by Gold Sport Collectibles on Friday, November 8, 2013, at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Jarden Corportation, announced today that five Royals – center fielder Lorenzo Cain, shortstop Alcides Escobar, left fielder Alex Gordon, first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez – have been named 2013 American League Gold Glove Award finalists. The Royals’ five finalists are second-most in the A.L., behind Baltimore’s six and tied for second-most in the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rawlings also announced that award winners will be revealed on Tuesday, October 29 at 7 p.m. CT, during a special edition of “Baseball Tonight/The 2013 Rawlings Gold Glove Award ® Announcement Show”, which will air on ESPN2. The Rawlings Gold Glove Awards honor the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American League ™ and National League ™, as voted by Major League managers and coaches.

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